Meter.



M. 009mm.

METER APPUCATION FILED JUNE \4. ma

Patented m 18, 1916.

' ,INVENTOR BY I r ATTORNEY MARSHALL oonnmn, or mam vnrnvon, new YonK.

METER.

wearer.

Gontinuation or application Serial No. 578,988, filed August 25, 1910.This application filed June M litta.

. Q; specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 18, 1916,

Serial No. 33,866.

3! '0 all whom to may concern: v

Be it known that I,:MAnsnAnL CORNINE, a.

"citizen of the United States of America, re-

' consists particularly in the arrangement of tom, soldered on at thebase the motive parts, also in the form of the meter, in the way themeter is put together and in the peculiar featureswhich make forsecurity and convenience in so doing.

Figure 1, is a perspective view' of a meter embodying my inventionsome'parts being omitted for clearness of illustration. Fig. 2, issimilar view of said meter with the top and front cases in position.Fig. 3, is a vertical sectional view through a broken por-- tion of themeter on the line 3-3, Fig. 2. Fig. 4, is a similar view on the line4-l, Fig. 2. Fig. 5, is adetail sectional View on line 55, Fig. 2.

Ordinarily meters have the motive parts so arranged that the valve stemsare linked to the crank shaft below the worm' which con'nnunic'atesmotion to the indicator shaft and the structure containingthe parts iscomposed of a tin skeleton including the sides and part of the front,with a tin botand cases soldercd flat to the skeleton. I have variedsuch arrangement of the stems and the worm, by securing the worm uponthe crank shaft below the crank and necessarily also below the level ofthe valve stems which are linked to the shaft at the crank line. 1 sayBy so doing, I bring the stress of the gears closer to the lower bearing,of, the crank shaft which results infreducing the liability of-bendingthe shaft, and therefore, makesto-f ward greater reliability in itsaction, while at the same time it enables me to set the -cator shaftlower and consequently to severe handling incident to its repeatedtesting and transportation. Moreover, whenit 1s tested, it veryfrequently becomes necessary to remove the top or the front or rear case(the technical name for the frontand rear covers 23, 24) in order togain access to the interior forthe-purpose of making repairs. If theseare in the form ofordinary caps, it is very difficult to remove them.Q-lf the edges of the openings and those of} the top and of the casesare entirely fiat, skilled labor must be employed to replace and securethem or they will be so imperfectly secured, that leaks will occurandevcnwith sufficiently skilled labor, the time taken is a seriouscharge because it is lengthenedby the necessary care required to make a,perfeet sealing. In my meter I make a skeleton, the sides 6, 7, of whichare pieces of tin, bent'to form the side pieces and to extend over' onthe front and rear along the side edges; foran; appreciable distance asat 8, 9, fromtheibot j;

tom upwardly, toward (and sometimesto) thetop. At the top these sidePlBCGSflI'GifilSO bent over and compose an appreciable part of the top,as at '10, 11. The edges of-. 8-, 9,

and 10, 11 are bent outwardly andupwardlmn 'atsubstantially right anglesto the main face of the top, the frontor the rear (as the case may be)and thus form uprightfianges I strike up the bottom, in the form of arectangular pan, 17 from a single piece of metahadaptcd to fit over thelower end of the skeleton'already described. That part ofits upper edgewhich would lie between-v the flanges 15 and 16 is bent up .to form a.compleme'ntal flange 18, that is, one'which "1 continues the boundary ofthe case opening "j' fr om 'le to 16 anda similar flange is likewiseformed on the "corresponding part5 lot the bottom which lies between theenhended sides on the other face of the case. As will be noted, thisbottom pan is not integral with either side or the front or the backandit has no joint at any corner, on the level of ally a source of greatannoyance. Again. the bottom wears out while the sides are yet good. Amajority of meter bottoms need renewal, as I know from an experiencecovering the observation of many thousand meters.

By constructing my meter as shown, I can renew the bottom withoutdiscarding the sides or top and without the expenditure of so much timeor labor as would otherwise be the case, and would render repairs soexpen sive as to be unadvisable.

The space from the line of the upper end of flanges 15, 16, to the topand a distance inward from the corner, is filled by other pieces, one infront and one in the rear, called gallery pieces. They are long enoughto lap well over the sides and give ample opportunity for soldering.

That part of the lower edge of the gallery piece between flanges'lfiandl6 (and the corresponding one at therear) are turned outward, atsubstantially right angles to form flanges, one of which, 19, togetherwith flanges 15 and 16 and 18 forms a complete q uulrilateral wall aboutthe case opening in the front of the meter, there being of course asimilar wall about the case opening in the rear. Then the edges of thegallery pieces which project over the front parts of the top of themeter, are similarly flanged, as at 20 and 21, and those flanges withflanges 12 and 14, wall the opening in the top of the meter. The coversfor these several openings, the top 22, the front case 23 and the rearcasefil, are shaped to fit over the opcnings closelywith suchembellishment of design as may be desired, but these edges, besides theordinary downwardly or inwardly extending flanges, 25 at the top, 26 onthe front case, (and the corresponding one not shown, but on the rearcase), have also, at the extremity of that flange or wall, a horizontally extended flange 28 on the top, a similar flange 29 on flange 2c, (anda mix-responding one on the corresponding flange at the rear, not shown)at right angles, or. substantially so to the conmooted walls 25, 26 andits mate, and parallel. with the proxinmte faces of the front, the roaror the lop of the case.

The ordinary joints are soldered usual, but in soldering the jointsbetween flanges 25 ahd 28. 26 and 29, and the corresponding rear flangesand the parts to which they lit, the mechanic draws his soldering ironalong meme? much and thus render it more durable, secend, the solderfilling the angular space, makes a much stronger fastening than it wouldif both faces were absolutely flat and yetthe solder may be applied evenmore easily than. if they were flat for there are walls to hold itto'its proper placement; third, when top 22,the case 23, or the case24:, is to be removed (the parts lying flat at the edges), a knife canbe readily run along under the flange 28, 29 or the one on the case 24,corresponding to the one marked 29 on the case 23, and the solderloosened so that the covering part may be readily thrown eta- Whichcould not be done if the face of the meter rose above the level of theflanges 28, 29 or the one on the case 24, corresponding to the onemarked 29 on the case 23. No joint as strong as this one can be asreadily broken with such a tool as can this, a matter of momentwhenthousands are to be removed. Fourth, these covering portions may be asreadily and quickly replaced, the flanges fit exactly over themeter-flange and go into place at once, with out the necessity ofscraping or that high -degree of skill in the artisan, which other formsrequire. Within the structure, formed as described, and at a level justabove the upper edge of the bellows, I locate a partition 31 called thetable top, dividing the bellows holding part of the meter from the valvechest, as I denominate the space between the table top and the upper endof the meter. ()n this table top 31, are two valves (not shown) fromwhich valve stems 35 and 36 extend toward the central part of theinclosed space. Within that space and pref- .erably somewhere near itshorizontal center I erect a bridge 37, and below it a step 39. In saidbridge and step, I mount the crank shaft provided with a crank 38, aworm 43 below the crank, and a crank arm 40, above the bridge, in whichthe shaft is journaled. The crank is connected to the valve stem asalready noted. The crank arm is threaded and provided with a threadedsleeve 41,

carrying a pivot 42 to receive the ends of I 1s so obviolis. thatfluzthen description is not name to this specification in the presenceof idly moving indicator 46 -and cari'yihg a the bottom line, and isprovided, alon a 'gea1 44 whichimeshes with the Worm 43 on portion ofits upper edge, With a flange sub-- "the-crankshaft and thus transmitsthe restantially parallel to the flat bottoni por- 15. v quire'd motion.i tion, all substantially as set forth.

5 :Th-operatidn ef -thecparts just desci'ibed In testimony whereof, Ihave signed my I neede v two subscribing Witnesses, this 9th day of WhatI claim;is':- 1 June, 1915.

.- A gas meter having a one piece bottom, v .MARSHALL CORNINE. 10 whichoverlaps and extends upvifardlyalong Witnesses: thefour upright sidesofsthe meter for a DAVID R. JONES,

short distance and is soldered thereto nem CHRISTOPHER H'UssNER.

